Rising to the top of WCAL

Friday

One of the great things about sports is that no matter how long you've been watching, something never before seen can occur at any time.

Add this to the list of things never before said about Wayne County Athletic League football: "Undefeated Hillsdale and undefeated Norwayne will meet in the game of the week tonight."

That's right, the Bobcats and Falcons are both 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the WCAL entering tonight's clash in Creston. They're both off to the best starts in their program histories.

They have one WCAL title between them (Norwayne, 1965) and zero playoff trips, but the Bobcats are second in Div. V, Region 17 computer ratings and the Falcons are seventh in Div. V, Region 18.

Norwayne's even ranked for the first time in the AP Poll (seventh in Div. V).

It's all caused quite an uproar in the small towns where they're more accustomed to seeing the volleyball or softball team ranked statewide.

"It's good for the communities and actually I think it's good for the league," said seventh-year Norwayne coach Kevin Maltarich, whose school's best WCAL finishes since the 1965 title were seconds in 1973 and 1994. "A couple of new teams have rotated to the top of the league and it creates a lot of excitement for them, but the other schools still have their traditions and are still solid programs.

"It all makes the league more competitive and balanced."

When Maltarich, a West Holmes graduate, took over the Bobcats' program for the 2001 season, they were coming off a 1-19 skid the previous two years.

Norwayne was solid in 2002 with a 7-3 record, but dipped under .500 the next three years.

Last season signaled a revival when Norwayne went 8-2 and missed its first playoff trip by one spot. With most of that team returning, the Bobcats are focused on finally getting over the playoff hurdle.

So far Norwayne's running game has been unstoppable as it has racked up 1,348 yards on the ground in wins over Wellington, Fairless, Western Reserve and Smithville. Fullback Travis Wilson (589 yards, six TDs) is already more than half way to 1,000 yards, while Tyler Robinson (372, five) and Blake Fetzer (208, four) also know how to pick up big stripes and find the end zone.

But while others in the community might already be making playoff reservations, Maltarich said the impressive thing about this team is they're not looking ahead.

"It really helps when you have kids who are smart and understand what's going on," Maltarich said. "We set goals before the season of winning the league and making the playoffs, but each week the only thing I hear talked about is who we're playing that Friday. Nobody's looking ahead."

Hillsdale also has a hard-working young coach in Tom Williams, who's trying to lead the Falcons to just their sixth winning season ever.

The Falcons have won two or fewer games in an amazing 26 seasons since they added football in 1963. The Falcons' best WCAL finish was a second in 1985, while the third-place 1999 team set the school record with seven wins.

After going 2-8 in Williams' debut season they've rattled off three straight 4-6 campaigns.

Last season ended with Hillsdale giving Northwestern all it could handle in a 13-6 Huskies' win that gave them a 10-0 regular season.

Since then Hillsdale has whipped Mapleton, Lucas, Loudonville and Rittman to get to this point.

Junior Zeb Hawley (50-for-472 rushing, 10 total TDs) has been the Falcons' top playmaker, Mike Tyson (372 yards passing, three TDs) has been a capable quarterback and Trent Kimball has led the defense with 45 tackles.

"It's all pretty exciting for our community to be in this position," Williams said. "We have a chance to maybe stay in first place in the league, but on the same token not only do we play a tough Norwayne team, but we have some other real tough teams also left to play.

"We have a lot of kids who gained a lot of experience as sophomores and juniors and now they're starting to play to their potential."

Norwayne leads the all-time series 25-11, including a 36-6 win last season.

"Last year they lined up and teed off on us up front," Williams said. "We understand that we're going to have to make a big improvement up front to slow their running game down."

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